"What many headlines missed...is that the first quarter of 2012 still registered the best quarterly payrolls performance since the spring of 2006," the firm wrote in its April economic outlook.

It added that March's data also showed improvement in a broad measure of underemployment that includes discouraged workers and those who are working part-time but want full-time jobs. The rate declined 0.4 percentage points during the month, to 14.5%.

Freddie Mac expects the labor market to continue to recover this year and expects a further acceleration in 2013. Currently, the firm is forecasting the U.S. unemployment rate to decrease further from 8.2% in March to 8% by the fourth quarter.